DocumentationAEM 6.4Administering Guide

Configuring Search Forms configuring-search-forms

Last update: Wed May 03 2023 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

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  • Admin
CAUTION
AEM 6.4 has reached the end of extended support and this documentation is no longer updated. For further details, see our technical support periods. Find the supported versions here.

Use Search Forms to customize the selection of search predicates used in the search panels available in various AEM consoles and/or panels of the author environment. Customizing these panels makes the search functionality versatile according your specific needs.

A range of predicates are available out-of-the-box. You can add multiple predicates, including (amongst others) the Property predicate to search for assets that match a single property specified by you, or the Options predicate to search assets that match one or more values that you specify for a particular property.

You can configure the search forms used within various consoles and the asset browser (when editing pages). The dialogs for configuring these forms can be accessed via:

  • Tools

    • General

      • Search Forms

When you first access this console you can see that all the configurations have a padlock symbol. This indicates that the appropriate configuration is the default (out-of-the-box) configuration - and cannot be deleted. Once you have customized the configuration the lock will disappear - unless you delete your customized configuration, in which case the default (and the padlock indicator) will be reinstated.

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Configurations configurations

The default configurations available are:

  • Page Editor (Documents search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for document in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Page Editor (Image search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for images in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Page Editor (Manuscript search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for manuscripts in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Page Editor (Page search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for pages in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Page Editor (Paragraphs search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for paragraphs in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Page Editor (Product search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for products in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Page Editor (Dynamic Media Classic [formerly Scene7] search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for Dynamic Media Classic resources in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Sites Admin Search Rail:

    This configuration defines the search options available to the user when using the search rail of the Sites console.

  • Page Editor (Video search):

    This configuration defines the options available when searching for videos in the assets browser (when editing a page).

  • Assets Admin Search Rail:

    This configuration defines the search options available to the user when using the Assets console.

  • Catalogs Admin Search Rail:

    This configuration defines the search options available to the user when searching a commerce catalog.

  • Orders Admin Search Rail:

    This configuration defines the search options available to the user when searching commerce orders.

  • Product Collections Admin Search Rail:

    This configuration defines the search options available to the user when searching commerce product collections.

  • Products Admin Search Rail:

    This configuration defines the search options available to the user when searching commerce products.

  • Project Admin Search Rail:

    This configuration defines the search options available to the user when searching projects.

Predicates and Their Settings predicates-and-their-settings

Predicates predicates

The following predicates are available, dependent on the configuration:

Predicate
Purpose
Settings
Analytics
Search/filter capabilities in the Sites browser when showing analytics powered data. Analytics search filters load up to match the mapped customized analytics columns.
  • Field Label
  • Description
Asset Last Modified
Date the asset was last modified.
A customized predicate, based on the Date Predicate.
Components
Allows an author to search/filter for pages that have a specific component on it. For example an image gallery.
  • Field Label
  • Placeholder
  • Property Name*
  • Property Depth
  • Description
Date
Slider-based search of assets based on a date property.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Description
Date Range
Search assets created within a specified range for a date property. In the Search panel, you can specify Start and End dates.
  • Field Label
  • Placeholder
  • Property Name*
  • Range text (From)*
  • Range text (To)*
  • Description
Expiry Status
Search assets based on expiry status.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Description
File Size
Search assets based on their size.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Option Path
  • Description
Hidden Filter
A filter on property and value, not visible to the user.
  • Property Name
  • Property Value
  • Description
Options

The options are content nodes created by the user.

See Adding an Options Predicate for more information.

  • Field Label
  • JSON Path
  • Property Name*
  • Single Select
  • Option Path
  • Description
Options Property
Search on a property of the option.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Options node path
  • Single Select
  • Description
Page Status
Search pages according to their status.
  • Field Label
  • Publish Property Name
  • LiveCopy Property Name
  • Description
Path
Search assets located under a specific path.
  • Field Label
  • Add Search Path
  • Description
Property
Search on a specified property.
none
Publish Status
Search assets based on their publish status
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Description
Range
Search resources that lie within a specified range. In the Search panel, you can specify minimum and maximum values for the range.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name
  • Description
Range Options
A specific search predicate for Assets and the same as common Slider Predicate. Is still available due to backward compatibilty issues.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Option Path
  • Description
Rating
Search assets according to their rating.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Option Path
  • Description
Relative Date
Search assets based on the relative date of their creation
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Relative Date
  • Description
Slider Range
A common search predicate extending the range predicate with the slider capability. The value of the property searched on must be between the slider limits.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Description
Tag
Search assets based on tags. You can configure the Path property to populate various tags in the Tags list.
  • Field Label
  • Property Name*
  • Option Path
  • Description
Tags
Search based on tags.
  • Placeholder
  • Property Name*
  • Description
NOTE

  • The common search predicates are defined in:
    /libs/cq/gui/components/common/admin/customsearch/searchpredicates

  • Search predicates related only to siteadmin (classic UI) are located under:
    /libs/cq/gui/components/siteadmin/admin/searchpanel/searchpredicates

    • These are deprecated and only available for backward compatibility.
This information is for reference only, you must not make changes to /libs.

Predicate Settings predicate-settings

Dependent on the predicate a selection of settings are available for configuration:

  • Field Label

    The label that will appear as the collapsible header or as the field label of the predicate.

  • Description

    Descriptive details for the user.

  • Placeholder

    Empty text or the place holder of the predicate in case no filtering text is entered.

  • Property Name

    The property to be searched on. It uses a relative path and the wildcards */*/* specify the depth of the property relative to the jcr:content node (each asterisk represents one node level).

    If you want to search only on a first level child node of the resource that has the x property on the jcr:content node use */jcr:content/x

  • Property Depth

    The maximum depth to search for that property within the resources. So a search on that property can be performed on a resource and recursive children until the level of the children equals specified depth.

  • Property Value

    The property value as an absolute string or as an expression language; for example, cq:Page or

    ${empty requestPathInfo.suffix ? "/content" : requestPathInfo.suffix}.

  • Range Text

    The label of the range field in the Date Range predicate.

  • Option Path

    The user can select the path using the Path Browser in the predicate setting tab. After selecting the + icon is used to add the selection to the list of valid options (then the - icon to remove if required).

    The options are content nodes created by the user, having the following structure:

    (jcr:primaryType = nt:unstructured, value (String), jcr:title (String))

  • Options node path
    Effectively the same as the Options Path, only this is in the common predicate field, the other is specific for assets.

  • Single Select
    If checked, the options are rendered as checkboxes that allow for only a single selection. If mistakenly selected, a checkbox can be deselected.

  • Publish and Live Copy Property Name(s)
    The labels for the publish and live copy checkboxes for the Sites specific predicate.

  • The * on the field labels in the Settings tab means the fields are required and if left blank an error message will appear

Configuring Your Search Forms configuring-your-search-forms

Creating/Opening a Customized Configuration creating-opening-a-customized-configuration

  1. Navigate to Tools, Operations, Search Forms.

  2. Select the configuration that you want to customize.

  3. Use the Edit icon to open the configuration for updating.

  4. If a new customization you will probably want to add new predicate fields and define the settings as required. If an existing customization you can select an existing field and update the settings.

  5. Select Done to save the configuration.

    note note
    NOTE
    The customized configurations are stored (as appropriate) under:
    • /apps/cq/gui/content/facets/<option>
    • /apps/commerce/gui/content/facets/<option>

Add/Edit a Predicate Field and Define Field Settings add-edit-a-predicate-field-and-define-field-settings

You can add or edit fields and define/update their settings:

  1. Open the customized configuration for updating.

  2. If you want to add a new field, open the Select Predicate tab and drag the required predicate to the required location. For example, the Date Range Predicate:

    chlimage_1-375

  3. Depending on whether:

    • You are adding a new field:

      After adding the predicate the Settings tab will open and show the properties that can be defined.

    • You want to update an existing predicate:

      Select the predicate field (on the right), then open the Settings tab.

    For example, the settings for the Date Range Predicate:

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  4. Make your changes as required and confirm with Done.

Previewing the Search Configuration previewing-the-search-configuration

  1. Select the Preview icon:

  2. This will display the search forms as they will be shown (fully expanded) in the Search column of the appropriate console.

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  3. Close the preview to return and finish the configuration.

Deleting a Predicate Field deleting-a-predicate-field

  1. Open the customized configuration for updating.

  2. Select the predicate field (on the right), open the Settings tab and then select the Delete icon (bottom left).

  3. A dialog will request confirmation of the delete action.

  4. Confirm this and any other changes with Done.

Deleting a Configuration (to Reinstate the Default) deleting-a-configuration-to-reinstate-the-default

Once you have customized a configuration this will override the defaults. You can resinstate the default configuration by deleting your customized configuration.

NOTE
You cannot delete either of the default configurations.

Deleting a customized configuration is done from the console:

  1. Select the required configuration (for example, Page Editor (Paragraphs search)) and then the Delete icon in the toolbar:

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  2. The customized configuration will be deleted and the default reinstated (this is indicated by the reappearance of the padlock symbol in the console).

Adding Options Predicates adding-options-predicates

Option predicates (Options, Options Property) allow you to configure an item to be searched for. They are usually used to search for something directly under the page; for example, a property on the page node.

The following example (to search according to the template used to create a page), illustrates the steps involved:

  1. Create the node defining the property to be searched on.

    You will need a root node holding definitions of the individual options to be available to the user.

    The nodes for the individual options need the properties:

    • jcr:title - the field label to be shown in the search rail
    • value - the property value to be searched on

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    note note
    NOTE
    You must not change anything in the /libs path.
    This is because the content of /libs is overwritten the next time you upgrade your instance (and may well be overwritten when you apply either a hotfix or feature pack).
    The recommended method for configuration and other changes is:
    1. Recreate the required item, as it exists in /libs, under /apps. In this case from:
    2. /libs/cq/gui/content/common/options/predicates
    3. Make any changes within /apps.

  2. Open the Search Forms console and select the configuration you want to update. For example, Sites Admin Search Rail.

    Then click/tap the Edit search forms icon.

  3. Depending on the configuration add an Options or Options Property to the configuration.

  4. Update the fields, in particular:

    • Property Name

      Specific the node property to be searched for on the target nodes. For example:

      jcr:content/cq:template

    • Option node path

      Select the path to where your options are held. For example:

      /apps/cq/gui/content/common/options/predicates/templatetype

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  5. Select Done to save your configuration.

  6. Navigate to the appropriate console (in this example, Sites) and open the Search rail. The newly defined search forms, together with the various options will be visible. Select the required option to see the search results:

    chlimage_1-381

User Permissions user-permissions

The following table lists the permissions required to perform edit, delete, and preview actions on search forms.

Action
Permissions
Edit
Read, Write permissions on the /apps node.
Delete
Read, Write, Delete permissions on the /apps node
Preview
Read, Write, Delete permissions on the /var/dam/content node.
Read, Write permissions on the /apps node.
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